


Hard Job

by lori_yuy



Category: Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII, Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997), Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: Birthday, Cats, Co-workers, Dogs, Extracurricular Work?, Fluff, Fluff and Crack, Fluff and Humor, Friendship, Gen, Pets, Work, Workplace Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:28:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28126110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lori_yuy/pseuds/lori_yuy
Summary: Everyone knows being a middle manager for any corporation can be a headache, but as the Vice Director of the Turks, the job goes even beyond the office.
Relationships: Aerith Gainsborough & Tseng, Cissnei & Tseng (Compilation of FFVII), Dark Nation | Darkstar & Tseng (Compilation of FFVII), Reno & Tseng (Compilation of FFVII), Rude & Tseng (Compilation of FFVII), Rufus Shinra & Tseng, Tseng & Emma, Tseng & Veld (Compilation of FFVII), Zack Fair & Tseng
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	Hard Job

He used to try to sleep early, he still does but it never works out in his favor. Something or rather SOMEONE is always coming around past his self-designated bed time. He's resigned to his fate and stopped caring about his presentable-ness after hours. He was often already be in bed when someone comes knocking at best, and at worst someone invites themselves in, as often happens with fellow Turks in their little corner of the employee housing complex. Today he was lucky - nobody came to bother him yet at past 9:30 PM. He sighed as he ducked under the covers, clearing his head with meditation before trying to go to sleep. A heavy lump joined him on top of the blankets. Chunky the cat - a fat orange tabby that used to lurk around the Sector 5 church before Aerith caught him and subsequently asked if Tseng would take him. The cat stretched out with a deep yawn before kneading Tseng from above the blanket and then settling down.

Sleep came and went in the form of shapeless dreams, faceless beings, replayed memories of the past, the smile of a certain flower girl, and scenery from places that he barely recognized. In the midst of this mental haze, there came a light punch to his face. He stirred from sleep but didn't want to fully wake up. Another punch, followed by another, then another. He scrunched his eyes in annoyance before sitting up in bed, making the perpetrator roll off the bed in a disgraceful ball of fluff. "Good morning, you're too energetic for being a gluttonous lazy bum."

"Me-ow?? Meow."

"Yes, you're hungry. I know." He pulled a can of cat food out of the bedside drawer and dumped the contents into the nearby food bowl before laying back down. It's too early for this. The clocked said 5:30 AM. He wasn't supposed to get up till another hour or so. Did he forget to feed Chunky last night? No way, the cat definitely ate last night. Ah forget it, he's going back to sleep.

~...~

He had already dozed off when he felt a weight settle on his chest. Chunky? No it was too heavy to be Chunky. He cracked his eyes open in the dark and saw a glimmer of red using the street light that seeped through the window.

"What are you doing in my apartment?" He asked the cat-like teen sitting cross-legged on his chest.

"I can't sleep... and I can't believe you sleep this early." Tseng reached up and petted the spikey redhead like he was indeed a cat.

"Are you afraid of Veld yelling at you tomorrow?" He had already seen Reno's report but Veld has yet to see it.

"Yeah.....I blew up the warehouse by accident after all...."

Tseng's smile could not be seen in the darkness of the room. So the young redhead does have a guilty conscience. "I'll talk Veld out of it if I see his temper get out of hand." 

Even in the darkness, the blue-green eyes sparkled alive with a happiness that only Reno could muster in such a short time. "Really?? You'll help me out?"

"Yes Reno."

The red head heaved a relieved sigh before sprawling out on top of him in a loose hug. "You're the best!"

"Can I go back to sleep now?"

Reno laughed in the dark. "Yes old man, you can go back to sleep now.....and thanks." With that, the teen crawled back out of his window before shutting it from the other side.

~...~

One night he had gotten up to go to the bathroom when he noticed the lights were on in his living room. He hadn't heard anything nor was bugged by anyone up until he woke up himself. One peek into the living room and he found Rude looking glum sitting alone on his couch. He frowned before voicing to Rude that he'll be right back. He sat down next to the taller man after the bathroom break and looked him over. Rude was generally quite hard to read but there was definitely an air of heaviness to his entire being. He sat with his shoulders hunched, arms wrapped around Chunky as if the cat provided life support.

"What's wrong?"

"Chelsea...."

Ah...the lady whom Rude's been dating on and off for awhile and thought had a thing going until she told him that she was affiliated with Avalanche and had been stringing him along the whole time. That's Reno's version of what happened at least. Rude was surprisingly sentimental when it came to love and was fairly heart broken.

Tseng put an arm around the larger Turk, giving Rude a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder. "Look, at least she was honest with you in the end and didn't intend to hurt you. Don't you think that's worth something?"

Rude tore his gaze away from the cat and looked at Tseng. He hadn't thought of it that way through the few days of pity party he threw for himself. Chelsea really did break up with him while truthfully divulging why and that she felt it was wrong to keep dating him. Perhaps that was out of the kindness of her heart and there would have been something if Avalanche wasn't involved. The thought made him feel a little better about the situation. Rude let out a sigh slowly after a few minutes and leaned back onto the couch, now petting the big fluff of a cat that was too happy to get attention.

"You have a nice cat Tseng."

"Aerith kicked him out of the church because he was munching on her flowers."

Rude raised an eyebrow at that tidbit of information before letting out a small laugh. "Would you mind if I crashed on your couch tonight? I don't feel much like being alone in my own place."

"Go ahead. I have extra bedding in the closet."

"And I'll also be hijacking your cat."

Tseng shrugged as he dug out the extra blanket and extra pillows and laid them out on the couch. "Chunky likes company, feel free to cuddle him."

~...~

The first time Cissnei came to find him, her lightbulb had blown and she was too short to reach it.

The second time she came by, her smoke alarm was beeping for a battery change - and she was too short to reach it.

At some point he should have just suggested that she buy a ladder, but he was too nice to say it. Maybe he'll still suggest it sometime.

It had been an eventful day at work. He fell asleep soon after he got home but somewhere in between awakeness and sleep, there was a sweet scent that wafted into his bedroom. Perhaps he was hallucinating. His tired mind ignored the scent and he slept through the night. When he woke up the next morning, there was a plate of cookies with a note on his kitchen counter.

_**I borrowed your oven, mine broke. Can you help me fix it later? The extra cookies are all yours. Thanks! - ps you're SO cute with your hair down when asleep. - Cissnei** _

... he did't wake up to her baking cookies in his apartment? Maybe he needs to rethink how deeply he sleeps and how tired he really was. He supposed he should be grateful that Cissnei kept quiet enough not to awaken him while she was lurking around his kitchen. Chunky had left a trail of cookie crumbs from the table down. The gluttonous kitty's gotten to the stack of cookies before he did. At least they looked like plain sugar cookies with nothing the cat shouldn't eat. Tseng made himself a pot of coffee and downed a couple of cookies for breakfast. They were buttery and soft, perhaps even better if he had warmed them up, but they were good enough to give him the energy he needed to start his day. Now about that oven...where did Cissnei get the idea that he had the skills to fix a broken oven? Maybe he was spoiling her a little too much and she was getting strange ideas.

He shook his head and wrapped the rest of the cookies in foil to bring to the office. Little did he know Cissnei baked a much larger batch than he anticipated and there were tins of the stuff already in the office by the time he got there. He was getting strange stares and teases for bringing the same cookies that Cissnei made now. Just awesome, great beginning to a workday when unfounded rumors start amongst the coworkers.

~...~

Emma kept things more professional but sometimes she needed a bit of help too. She had nearly botched the mission earlier today and had clearly been bothered by it all afternoon. She was highly professional if nothing else and one of the few people who would actually knock on his door properly and wait for a response. He was not all that surprised when she showed up at his door at a little past 7PM. Emma took one look at him with his hair down and in his pajamas.

"Uh....sorry, maybe I should go to the gym instead." She mumbled apologetically.

He raised a brow at her. "Something's clearly been bothering you. Was it the mission?"

She gave him a small smile. "Yes sir. I'm just feeling a little out of sorts and wanted more hand-to-hand combat training, but you look like you're getting ready to turn in for the night."

"No I just get ready early but I won't go to sleep for another few hours. Come on in. I wouldn't mind a little one-on-one training session."

He went and changed into some sportswear and tied his hair back up into a ponytail before meeting her again in his living room. "Where do you want to go train?" She pointed to his small backyard.

They ended up in a very tight fight that had both of them sweating and breathless. Emma had the upperhand with her agility and small size and had managed to pin Tseng onto the patio floor. Chunky landed on his stomach soon after, making him laugh. It was excellent stress relief and they both felt like they got something out of it. Emma got up and extended a hand to help Tseng up before bowing and thanking him for his time and the opportunity to train. There came a few whistles from both sides of the yard. Cissnei was propped up on one side of the fence peeking in, and Reno was propped up against the other side, also peeking in.

"Good fight! Go Emma!" Cissnei cheered. Reno just had a stupid smile on his face that said his mind was probably in the gutter. Emma glared at Reno who then voiced his opinion. "I wouldn't mind if you pinned me like that any day!"

Tseng now gave Reno a harsh look and rebuked him to watch his comments that can be seen as sexual harassment, to which Reno just grinned and jumped off his vantage point to go back to his own place. Emma glanced at Cissnei who was still on top of her fence. "Do you always stare at Tseng like that? You know there's still rumors going around about you two right?"

Cissnei laughed. "He might as well be my boyfriend, he fixes my stuff for me all the time."

"WHAT?" Emma's face went a little red over the possibilities.

Tseng tisked. He loved his partner, but not that way. "Stop giving people wrong ideas Cissnei." He said before guiding Emma back inside with Chunky in his arms.

~...~

Having a SOLDIER visit was a rare occasion - normally Turks and SOLDIERS didn't mix but he has become the interface to the two groups recently with the fiasco going on within SOLDIER's organization. A certain spikey black haired SOLDIER came to his door that night, wearing a pout. "May I come in?" Tseng got out of the door frame and let the younger man in.

"So...about that mission coming up..." Zack started once he's settled down after taking a gander at Tseng's rather sparsely furnished and sparsely decorated apartment.

"What about it?"

"Are you sure Sephiroth still refuses to go?"

"Sephiroth still refuses to go." Tseng replied surely.

Zack threw his hands up in the air exasperatedly. "Argh I look up to him but he's just being such a BRAT!" Tseng returned an amused look. Only Zack could spout such things about Sephiroth and get away with it. Zack was on point though. Shinra really was allowing the first class SOLDIER to do as he liked despite him shunning missions that should have been his to handle. Zack huffed again. "I still can't believe they'll send me though. I don't really feel like I'm up to his level you know?"

Tseng set a cup of tea he brewed in front of Zack. "You're stronger than you give yourself credit for, besides Sephiroth must trust your abilities to have pushed your name out to Lazard first." 

Zack chewed at his lips a few times before answering. "Really? You think I'm really that worthy?"

If anything else, Zack was easy to get along with because he was an open book and almost never had ulterior motives. Worthy may not be the right word, but more like trustworthy. He was always positive and wanted to do his best for everyone around him. That was always a plus no matter what part of Shinra you were. What little words he had for Zack seemed to cheer the teen up. Soon enough, Zack downed the tea and was roughing up Chunky. "Hey is this the cat that Aerith caught eating her flowers?"

"Yes."

"Speaking of Aerith, could you help me pick a gift for her? I wanted to get her a present."

"Why .. are you asking me?" Tseng hesitated and was a little surprised at Zack's latest request.

"Because you obviously know her better than I do." Truth that. He helped Zack with a list of things that Aerith would appreciate.

~...~

She climbed in through his window much like Reno often does. Only the cat hissing warned him of her approach in the dark.

"It's just me Tseng. Um...can you get Chunky away? He scares me a little." What was Aerith doing in his place at this hour?

He sat up in bed groggily and rubbed the sleep from his eyes before pulling the cat away from the window sill. "Did you sneak out of the house in the middle of the night again?"

She had that little proud smile plastered on her face that said yes indeed. She probably used one of the train passes he gave her to come up to Sector 0, but how did she know this was his apartment?

"So about Zack, do you know where he is?"

"He's on a mission but I can't give out details."

"Not even to little old me?" Aerith attempted.

"No. He's fine though." Tseng reassured her. He could see the pink hair ribbon that she had in her hair with the little bit of street light pouring through his window. So that's what Zack chose for her present.

"Yeah I can feel that he's fine, it's just...he hasn't called in awhile." She sat down next to him on the bed and absent-mindedly reached for his hair. She really just liked playing with it when he lets it loose.

"He'll be fine. I get reports from him every few days and he sent one earlier today."

"Hmm....so maybe I'll call him instead." She said as she twisted his hair into a braid and pulled back when she was done. The cat was still hissing at her, probably not forgetting when she captured him and pulled him away from her flowers. The cat stopped as Tseng petted him and put him down, where Chunky rolled off the edge of the bed through his sheer size and weight.

"Tseng calls you Chunky but I think you're more of a Clunky!"

Tseng chuckled at her comment and got off the bed himself and began putting more clothes on. "I'll take you back home."

~...~

It had been another rough week at work. He just came back from Banora not too long ago and was still suffering from second degree burns and the shock of seeing his former coworkers buried in a shallow grave. Veld came knocking at his door that particular night. The elderly Director held up a bottle of wine in greeting. They ended up talking things over, Veld giving him a few life lessons about being part of the Turks and the hardships that they must endure. They bonded over the bottle of wine in silence after. Veld was more like a father figure to him for the longest time in his life. He wasn't the nicest or the most loving father but Veld showed that he cared in other ways. He always spared time to grace Tseng with his presence and some words of wisdom whenever he got the sense that Tseng was down.

Although it didn't make it into his report that Genesis had burned him in Banora, Veld could see that he was hurting. He poked Tseng in the ribs and got a hiss of pain in return, confirming that Tseng had indeed sustained unreported injuries. He lightly smacked Tseng upside the head. "What the hell do you think you're doing not reporting that injury?"

"It's healing just fine Sir."

"Uh huh...I'll believe it when I see it." Tseng reluctantly took off his pajama shirt and the angry red marks crisscrossing his torso faced the light.

"Burns huh...I hope you've been putting a good salve on that."

"I have. I'll be fine. They don't usually get in the way." Tseng replied in hopes of reassuring Veld that he was actually fine.

"One week off Tseng."

"SIR?"

"You're taking next week off."

Tseng sighed silently. That was a no arguments tone from Veld. Papa Veld is slightly angry, further provocation not advised. "Yes sir."

"Good, now have a good night. I shouldn't stay around too late either. How's that Ancient doing?" Veld asked suddenly as he eyed the vase of flowers on Tseng's table and the cat curled up on the couch.

"It's....slow and I don't foresee much changing any time soon, but rest assured I'm still working on her."

"Hm....keep her safe."

~...~

It was during his week off when a panicked Rufus Shinra showed up at his door with his murder doggo. Tseng was taking a nap when the frantic knock came to his door. Rufus led the dog in without a second word and started spouting off what was wrong immediately. The dog apparently swallowed a rather large bone whole and had been whining for the past hour or so. Rufus did not want to send her off to the science department in Hojo's lab to have her checked out.

Tseng sighed. Leave it to Rufus to manage to get his dog into such a state. Poor Chunky was hiding on top of the cabinets, eyeing the giant dog with skepticism. Tseng patted the dog's head. "D, what did you eat this time?" He rubbed the dog's stomach gently. After a few minutes of the dog looking guilty, she stood up and barfed on Tseng's floor. There was indeed a large bone that came out...but there was also something else. A roll of....COINS?

"OH!!!" Rufus exclaimed loudly. "Tseng, you're a life saver. She could have died if the coins melted in her stomach."

"Sir...what are those coins?"

Rufus only smirked and picked the roll out of the dog barf now gracing Tseng's floor. "I'll show you when you're better." 

He got up and led Dark Nation back out and towards Shinra Tower. Also leave it to Rufus to forget that his dog just left a large puddle of vomit on his floor. He sighed and cleaned the mess up before reaching up and plucking his cat off the high shelf.

~...~

It was another late night at the office. Everyone else had already left when he finally finished reading and analyzing the reports that came in during the day. He stretched before reaching for the last sip of coffee left in the can. Perhaps he shouldn't have started drinking the stuff this late but work needed to be done. The cool night air hit him in the face and it felt nice. He took his usual route back to his apartment. If anyone tried to bug him tonight they would have found nobody home. He paused to look at the full moon in the sky. It was tinted green in the shadows of the Sector 0 reactor dust, but was nonetheless beautiful to look at. Maybe he should have ordered some delivery food beforehand, but he'll manage to find something when he gets home to munch on. Sleep also sounded great right about now.

When he got to the employee housing complex, he noticed that some of his coworkers' places were unusually quiet. Maybe they went out for dinner and drinks. He usually missed out on those, either because he was too tired or still up and working. He sighed and pushed his way into his apartment. Multiple lights turned on suddenly, blinding him temporarily.

"SURPRISE!!!!!" Came a slew of voices from inside. When his eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness, there was all his coworkers and Rufus and his dog, all huddled around his living room. They started singing the birthday song and he then noticed the large cake sitting on his coffee table. There were also trays of food waiting for him. "Happy birthday Tseng!!"

His job was hard, but at that moment he felt like it was all worth it.

**Author's Note:**

> Tseng plays mom to everyone.


End file.
